Para-rowers grab gold and bronze

Two former Brunel students made their names in British sporting history, with gold and bronze rowing medals in the Paralympic games.

Tom Aggar (above) won bronze in the men’s single sculls and James Fox made up ‘the oarsome foursome’ mixed coxed four, to defend Britain's London 2012 gold.

It came as Paralympics GB team dominated the rowing, taking three golds and one bronze in the space of an hour.

Back on the podium eight years after becoming the first ever arms-shoulders gold winning champion in Beijing, Tom made up for missing out on a medal at London 2012.

“I took a lot from London,” said the 2013 MSc sports science student, now 32. “The build-up and the hype were huge and I probably fell foul of not rowing my own race and sticking to my own plan.

“I put that right here and I came away with a medal, so I’m so pleased.”

Paralysed from the waist down after breaking his back in a fall, the six foot three Londoner, met wife Vicki while studying for an MSc sports Science (Human Performance) at Brunel in 2013. The two have a son, Daniel, who was born in 2013.

James Fox, who along with Pam Relph, Dan Brown and Grace Clough and cox Oliver James won gold, studied sports Science (Human Performance) at Brunel in 2013. The 24 year-old from Peterborough broke his back in a car accident within the first few months of university and after two years unable to train, classified into para-rowing because of an ankle problem.